Girls in India: The Lesser Children

GO TO SOURCE PRIYANKA KHANNA, New Delhi, March 30, 2001: There is little place for the girl child given Indian society’s strongly ingrained preference for sons. The ratio of girls per 1,000 boys in the age group of 0 to 6-year-old has declined from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001. The shocking studies reported in this article show that…

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Conversion Statistics Collection Thwarted in Darjeeling

GO TO SOURCE DARJEELING, INDIA, March 13, 2001: The West Bengal Government has withdrawn orders on furnishing details on conversion following strong exception to it from the State Minorities Commission. The matter was taken up with the authorities after the Darjeeling district intelligence branch issued a circular asking for monthly reports on the number of persons converted to Christianity. This…

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International Students Bring Spiritual Variety To U. Texas-Arlington

GO TO SOURCE ARLINGTON, TEXAS, March 27, 2001: While students with predominantly Christian backgrounds attended the University of Texas-Arlington in the past, there is change. Now there are 1,093 international students, the majority of them Hindus from India. The second largest group with 147, from China, others are from Iran, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, South Korea, Nepal and Thailand.

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Scientists Trash University Grant’s Commission Astrology Plan

Source: The Hindu BANGALORE, INDIA, MARCH 27, 2001: The Government’s University Grants Commission’s decision to “rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology in India” by starting departments of Vedic Astrology in Indian universities has infuriated the scientific community. The guidelines said that it would add to a new dimension for research in the fields of Hindu-Mathematics, Vastushastra, Meteorological Studies, Agricultural Science,…

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Smoking Biggest Killer in Developing World

GO TO SOURCE SUSSEX, U.K., March 26, 2001: Smoking will become the biggest killer in developing world countries within the next 20 years, surpassing those deaths caused by the Aids epidemic according to the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, UK’s government- based study. The report forecasts that within two decades 8.5 million people a year will be dying in…

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UK Project to Record Experiences of Hindus in Britain

GO TO SOURCE LONDON, ENGLAND, March 28, 2001: A study center here has launched a project that will record the impressions and experiences of Hindus in Britain, especially older generations. “The project, Life of Hindus in Britain will mark the beginning of an important process of documenting that which makes pluralistic United Kingdom a multi-ethnic and multi- cultural democracy,” Indian…

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Knighthood for Ravi Shankar

GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 27, 2001: Maestro Ravi Shankar was bestowed with an honorary knighthood in recognition of his services to music. “My heart is full. If only I could express the deep emotion and gratitude that I feel,” said the overwhelmed sitarist, sharing the moment with wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka. While conferring the award, England’s…

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South Africa likely to Commemorate Gandhi’s Contributions

GO TO SOURCE DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, March 27, 2001: The name of Mahatma Gandhi, whose campaign of passive resistance was born in South Africa, is expected to be one of 20 to be immortalized in marble here. Special marble tiles, each engraved with the still closely guarded names, and in some cases, the palm prints of those to be honored,…

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Technology-Sector Slump Threatens Foreign Workers

GO TO SOURCE USA, March 28, 2001: Thousands of foreign workers in America’s slumping high technology sector are set to lose their jobs and their right to stay in the US. In the past few years, the US government has given hundreds of thousands of foreigners with high-tech skills H1-B temporary work permits. If they are laid off, they are…

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Paying Homage to a Hindu Holy Man

GO TO SOURCE DALLAS, USA, March 24, 2001: According to Hindu tradition, the saint Shri Dnyaneshwar — while still a child, in response to a challenge — made a buffalo recite the Vedas, proving that all creatures are united by the soul. Later he wrote Dnyaneshwari, a religious work still popular today. Maharashtrians here are staging a play on his…

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